They roll out an orange carpet for Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards each year so it's only appropriate that young stars from Orange County were well-represented at the silliest, slimiest awards show of the season on Saturday.

Working the pre-show arrivals with our Deputy Reporter, daughter Anna Lily, we spied O.C. natives such as Jennette McCurdy, late of "iCarly," Caroline Sunshine, of "Shake It Up," and Dinah Jane Hansen of "The X Factor" group Fifth Harmony amid the likes of Katy Perry, Neil Patrick Harris and Selena Gomez.

Though they slipped past us in the crowd, Orange County actors Cole Jensen of "Crash & Bernstein" and Noah Munck of "iCarly" were also at the show.

And then there was Allana Ubach, who plays Scott Baio's wife on Nickelodeon's "See Dad Run," who hails from Downey but had a confession to make on Saturday.

"I used to tell people I was from Orange County," the actress admitted.

For two hours, stars arrived at the Galen Center at the University of Southern California, stepping out of limos onto a vast stretch of purple carpet that funneled them on to the orange carpet and past the media, screaming young fans, a trampoline and other kid-friendly pit stops.

Winners selected by kids in an online vote included Selena Gomez as best tv actress, Johnny Depp as best movie actor, One Direction as best musical group, and Dwayne Johnson as best butt-kicker but the 26th annual Kids' Choice Awards, like all those that came before, is more about fun than it is about the orange blimp trophies the winners take home.

And so you had host Josh Duhamel gleefully setting up stars to get blasted by tons of neon green slime, everyone from the Lakers' Dwight Howard ("I guess that's what you call a slime dunk," Duhamel joked) to Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock, who got drenched after Neil Patrick Harris's magic trick to ward off slime backfired.

Musical performers Pitbull and Christina Aguilera performed together, while Ke$ha had a solo number later.

On the show, McCurdy and Ariana Grande, her costar in the upcoming Nickelodeon series "Sam & Cat," presented the award for best TV actress to Selena Gomez. Early on the carpet the Garden Grove native talked about how much fun it is to come each year to the show, this year being her seventh time here.

"I remember the first time I came I was soooo nervous," she said. "And now it's just so much fun.

"I miss the 'iCarly' cast so much because they were my best friends, but it's the same crew, the same set, same studio and my character is the same," McCurdy told us of "Sam & Cat."

We met Caroline Sunshine via a phone interview three years ago when the Tustin teenager landed her first big role in the movie "Marmaduke." Now the 17-year-old has finished shooting the third season of Disney Channel's "Shake It Up" and was making her second appearance at the KCAs.

"It's fun to see people from the O.C. here," she said when we ran into her on the carpet. "I'm happy to represent!"

For Dinah Jane Hansen, who six months ago was just starting her run on Fox's "The X Factor," walking the orange carpet with her four fellow members of Fifth Harmony was a bit surreal. Despite her own measure of fame, the 15-year-old from Santa Ana was wide-eyed at some of the people with whom she was rubbing shoulders, people like Jaden Smith, the actor-rapper son of superstar Will Smith, and Little Mix, a girl group that won the British version of "The X Factor" in 2011.

"It's so exciting to be here," said Dinah Jane, adding that Fifth Harmony is recording its debut album now which should be out in the fall.

A kid's-eye view

Eleven-year-old Anna Lily Larsen was part of our team on the orange carpet on Saturday. As a member of the prime Nickelodeon viewing audience, she offered up five specific notes on the parade that passed us by for two hours before the show began. Including:

No. 5: The Do Not Touch button: "They had these buttons that would burst out smoke and streamers to the orange carpet. It was obvious that people would want to touch it because of the big signs that said 'Do not touch'"

No. 3: The cameras: "We got to be on TV! Barely. If you squint your eyes."

No. 2: The energy: "The energy there was ecstatic. Everyone there was so happy."

No. 1: Drum roll, please! The celebrities: "It was fun talking to Jeff Sutphen (host of "Brain Surge" and "Figure It Out"); he's so energetic. Sophia Grace and Rosie (the pint-sized British celebrities) are so adorable! It was also nice to talk to Willow Shields (Primrose Everdeen of "The Hunger Games" movies). And I was so excited to see Neil Patrick Harris walk by!"

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